Dr. James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, zoologist, scientist, and thinker. Dr. James D. Watson was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 6, 1928 to James Dewey Watson and Jean Watson. During his undergraduate years Watson did not study what he is now known for, genetics or biochemistry; it was actually in the field of ornithology. He became interested in finding out the secret of the gene after reading Erwin Schrodinger’s influential book what is life?, he studied and graduated at age nineteen from the University of Chicago, received a degree from Indiana University in Bloomington studying the effect of x-rays on bacteria. Watson worked at the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory in England, where he met his collaborator Francis Crick, working to uncover the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Together with Dr. Francis Harry Compton Crick, are well and best known for the discovery of DNA structure and function, the molecular carrier of genetic information. Both had been working together since the early 1950’s, and today their research ranks as fundamental principles in the advance in molecular biology.
While experimenting with cardboard and paste on the year 1953 to have a three dimensional example of what their experiment hypothesize, both, Watson and Crick, uncovered that DNA had to be composed of two double-helical configurations. After intense experimentations, they found that different letters of genetic structure could be superimposed on one another without changing absolutely anything. This letters can be better known as: Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, and Cytosine, or A, T, G, and C. Watson realized that “an Adenine-Thymine pair is held together by two hydrogen bonds was identic...
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...arious issues concerning scientific research and the strong presence concerning federal policies in supporting research. Because of great scientist we understand the human genome and the importance of DNA.
Works Cited
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Pray, Leslie A. "Discovery of DNA Structure and Function: Watson and Crick." Scitable. Nature Education, 2008. Web. 28 June 2011. .
With a competitive spirit, people are driven to act in ways that they would not otherwise and the results can be drastic. In the case of James D. Watson and Francis Crick, in Watson’s novel the Double Helix, this sensation of competition leads to one of the greatest discoveries in biology. But the actions of Watson, Crick, and their competitors may or may not be justified for the results that they yield; the powerful conflict of rivalry has beneficial, detrimental, and questionably moral consequences that shaped the pathway to DNA’s structure.
3 Leicht B. G., McAllister B.F. 2014. Foundations of Biology 1411, 2nd edition. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press. Pp 137, 163-168, 177-180,
Technological revolution was greatly contributed by the integration of personal computers. Computers did not only contribute to existing businesses, but also created new businesses and jobs. With the emergence of the internet was created a boundless source of information and a new way of communicating. Internet, being a fairly young communication medium, is has just started to influence our lives and its full impact has not been completely sensed. With the help of computer technology came numerous breakthroughs in genetics. Discoveries in the field led to development of new medical treatments and hybridization of animals and plants. With the introduction of DNA testing it became possible to identify individuals’ relationships and aided in criminal investigations. However, certain new scientific directions became subjects of great controversy; one of which is stem cell
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Dr. Kenneth Bancroft Clark was born on July 14, 1914 in the Panama Canal Zone to Arthur Bancroft Clark and Miriam Hansen Clark. Arthur Clark was an employee of the United Fruit Company. When Kenneth Clark was just four years of age his parents divorced and his mother moved him and his younger sister to Harlem, New York. Though Miriam Clark worked as a seamstress to provide an income for her family, being a single parent, living in poverty, was not easy, but she provided to care, encouragement and support that her children needed. (obituary)
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The majority of scientific work in genetics and genomic sequencing has been done in the last 155 years. In 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species where he proposed evolution by natural selection. Evolution is the change of inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations.Yet, the principals of genetics required to explain how characters are ...
"The discovery of the structure by Crick and Watson, with all its biological implications, has been one of the major scientific events of this century." (Bragg, The Double Helix, p1) In the story of The Double Helix, James Watson tells of the road that led to the discovery of life's basic building block-DNA. This autobiography gives insight into science and the workings within a professional research laboratory that few members of society will ever be able to experience. It also gives the reader an idea of the reality of life for one scientist and how he struggled with the problem of DNA. However, the author's style is marked by his lack of objectivity and inclusion of many biased opinions and personal prejudices.
John Broadus Watson was a famous American psychologist who lived between 1878 and 1958. He was born in Greenville, South Carolina to Pickens and Emma Watson and was the fourth of six children. The family was not well off financially and John did not have an easy childhood. In spite of the poverty that engulfed the family, John’s father turned into an alcoholic who cared less for his family. However, Emma, John’s mother was a devoted religious woman who struggled to take care of her children with less support from her husband. In 1891, John’s father left the family and disappeared after engaging in extra marital affairs with other women. The infidelity strained his marriage with Emma and the relationship with his children. After the disappearance of his father, John became unruly and confused due to the lack of full parental care of both parents. He became defiant at school and did not want to listen to advice from his teachers. He bullied fellow students and was involved in other antisocial behaviors which were quite unacceptable in the school environment, further more he became violent and even rebelled against his mother (Buckley, 1989).
The Double Helix tells a tale of fierce competition, perseverance, and scientific innovation as we follow James Watson and his cohort Francis Crick on their quest to discover the secret to life, the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid. Although already fascinated with DNA, Watson struggled with finding chemistry exciting enough to learn it in depth. He had studied birds in college and thereby managed to avoid any formal chemistry or physics courses. As he later pursued a PhD in biochemistry, he realized he could put it off no longer and attempted to learn organic chemistry at Indiana University. However, after a mishap in the lab, he was encouraged instead to study nucleic acid chemistry with Herman Kalckar in Copenhagen. There, his mind strayed from his work and he began doing unauthorized research in the lab of Ole Maaløe, studying phages. Herman stopped teaching Watson after going through a divorce with his wife, and sent Watson off to a scientific conference in Naples. Although he was bored by many of the lectures, Maurice Wilkins’s talk about X-ray diffraction fascinated Watson. He was struck by an X-ray diffraction picture of DNA that Maurice presented and was determined to study the acid. He later got to know more about Maurice’s colleague, Rosalind Franklin, who was proud, stubborn, and very difficult to work with. Watson greatly admired the lecture given by the renowned Linus Pauling, who had discovered the structure of the alpha-helix and was thought of as the leader in DNA research in the scientific world.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a self-replicating molecule or material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent in chromosomes. It encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and many viruses. Simply put, DNA contains the instructions needed for an organism to develop, survive and reproduce. The discovery and use of DNA has seen many changes and made great progress over many years. James Watson was a pioneer molecular biologist who is credited, along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, with discovering the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. The three won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962 for their work (Bagley, 2013). Scientist use the term “double helix” to describe DNA’s winding, two-stranded chemical structure. This shape looks much like a twisted ladder and gives the DNA the power to pass along biological instructions with great precision.
In modern society, governments in both developed and developing countries contribute financial resources to various forms of research and development (R&D). This type of investment assists society to function more effectively, because of inventions and innovations in many sectors, such as health, education, technology and science. In this way, social growth is encouraged at both a national and international level, which further supports improved business and commercial expansion. Based on this, it can be understood that government funding promotes scientific exploration of new ideas and processes that can advance the standard of living around the world. Therefore, it is argued that government funding for research benefits society. This will be examined with reference to the way government funding for medical research aids society, and scientific production on technology.